The way in which you charge your smartphone has a significant impact on its battery life, it's been revealed.

It's one of the most frustrating things about everyday life. When you need your portable device for as many things as the modern person does, it can be deflating to find its juice running out after just a few hours.

Obviously if the battery has been bashed about a bit you may just need to get a new one.

But experts have detailed how your charging habits have a big impact.

Most people plug their phone in at the end of the day before they go to bed, and leave it to charge up overnight. But, it turns out that might be doing more harm than good, the Mirror reports .

The majority of smartphones, tablets and electronic gadgets run off lithium-ion batteries which contain an anode, a cathode and a chemical electrolyte. When the phone is being used, charge is pushed from the positive cathode through the electrolyte and attracted to the anode before flowing out to the different components of the phone. Once you’re plugged in and charging, this process is reversed.

Cadax , a company that offers devices that test smartphone and other batteries, runs a free educational website called Battery University.

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If you remember the days when the phone shop told you to charge your Nokia 3310 for 24 hours before using it, this may seem a little backwards. But, modern lithium-ion batteries do not need to be fully charged.

In fact, charging up your phone or tablet to 100 per cent puts a high voltage stress on the batter, which can be bad for it.

You don't need to remove the charger when it's full

If you ignore the advice above, the good news it is makes no difference whatsoever how long you leave the charger plugged in once your phone reaches 100 per cent charge.

Battery University points out that charges automatically turn off when a phone hits 100 per cent – so you are not doing any damage by leaving it plugged in.

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